Attending the Director’s Guild of America for a screening of his beloved superhero assembly The Avengers, Joss Whedon shared things that didn't make the cut, subtly hinting at a future villain.

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By DCMarvelFreshman - 12/18/2012

Marvel's The Avengers box office behemoth was recently screened in 3D at Hollywood's Director’s Guild of America, before writer-director Joss Whedon dropped by to share interesting tidbits about the movie. Precisely revealing things that didn't make the final cut, including a mystery villain that might appear in the future, Whedon also dots on switching up the ensemble's roster.

“There was a little bit of time where we thought we might not actually get Scarlett [Johansson]. There was a very Waspy draft that I wrote. But it was way too Waspy. I was like, 'She's adorable! I'm just going to watch her!'” As Slash Film notes, Janet Van Dyne wasn't the only character that Whedon wanted to use. “I'm not going to tell you [who it is] because that [villain] might crop up another time. But I definitely felt like, 'I've got Earth's mightiest heroes. I've got four of the biggest, baddest, toughest guys out there and I've got one effete British character actor.' They believed very strongly that they didn't want to add any more mythology, I think was the thing. But it took me a long time to accept that because I was like, ‘they need someone to hit,’”

Of course, Joss Whedon, instead, got a Chituari army in addition to a glimpse of the true mastermind behind the film's villainy, the Mad Titan Thanos. And he was very much satisfied with the ending result. However, “the ace in the hole is Tom Hiddleston because he’s so compelling and commanding and gracious about it that it became, ‘Oh it’s about how he gets in their heads – it’s going to be fine. But it took me a long time to accept that because they need someone to hit!”

Although the filmmaker never revealed anything about Marvel's The Avengers 2015 sequel, he did acknowledge the importance of swapping characters every now and then. “I used to read 'The Avengers' and part of the ethos of the team was that it changed their lineup every month. Their 150th issue was just a bunch of faces. 'Who will be in the team now?!' We had the first issue as a poster in the offices. Now that I'm working on the sequel I said, 'Let's the second issue up there! Let's change it up a little bit!' The second issue is 'Introducing… Giant-Man! And this character! They were already changing it up after one issue. That's what they always do.”

UPDATE: Other tidbits worth mentioning, via Collider, are listed below. Check HERE for the full list.

Whedon wrote a 15-page final battle arc that incorporated a prologue and five acts. Whedon talked about an early draft being too heavy in “dry wit,” and later realized the fact that Hawkeye’s character would need to be compromised and that Agent Coulson would have a man-crush on Captain America. On his most difficult scenes to write and direct in The Avengers, Whedon said that the big action scene was tough due to the smoke from the explosions as well as the various characters interjecting dialogue throughout the sequence. Whedon's favorite scene was the one between Loki and Natasha/Black Widow. On the conflict between writing and directing, Whedon talked about a recent discussion with James Gunn in which they each lamented the fact that becoming a director ruins the purity of the writing experience. “I still believe that even though The Empire Strikes Back is better in innumerable ways than Star Wars, Star Wars wins because you can’t end a movie with Han frozen in Carbonite. That’s not a movie, it’s an episode.”

Marvel Studios already describes their highly-anticipated sequel to the No. 3 highest grossing film of all time, “Marvel's The Avengers,” as another “big cinematic event.” And expected to feature the reassembly of iconic Marvel super heroes Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye, Black Widow & Nick Fury taking on a new unexpected enemy, new additions to the superhero team up of a lifetime are possible.

Expecting reprisals from Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Samuel L. Jackson, and directed by Joss Whedon from a screenplay by Joss Whedon, “Marvel’s The Avengers” sequel is based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series “The Avengers,” first published in 1963 and a comics institution ever since. And set for release May 1, 2015, the film is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. In addition to the sequel, Marvel Studios will release a slate of films based on the Marvel characters including “Iron Man 3” on May 3, 2013; “Thor: The Dark World ” on November 8, 2013; “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” on April 4, 2014; and “Guardians of the Galaxy” on August 1, 2014.

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He could have made it a typical CBM "my ideauhz on vut the moovy cud hav beeeen" fanboy, but instead made an awesome, witty, action packed movie peppered with geeky goodness.Glad he listened to the studios on this one :)

I liked that hawkeye in the beginning of the movie is a villain, a wink to the fact that he was initially some kind of a "criminal" and fought iron man (even if in the comics barton always thinks to be an hero)

I hope Hawkeye and the black widow are replaced in avengers 2. I enjoyed Johansson as black widow but Hawkeye's character was terrible I would love a big powerful villain for the hulk to fight. But 2015 is going to be a great year for blockbuster movies.

I spoke to someone that is close to James Gunn. He said marvel doesn't want Nathon Fillion in any of their movies. I don't know if they think he is to old or he burned bridges with them. But don't expect to see Fillion in a marvel movie ever.

I think that some of you forget one of the big reasons DC rejected Joss...The last time he was given a preexisting franchise before he went to work with marvel was a little movie by the name of Alien Resurrection... Most of what Joss Whedon wrote for that movie was very horrible and coupled with a French guy who added more weird and horrible stuff... well it did not turn out that great a movie. That is one of the big reasons DC/Warner brothers was so reluctant for Joss. Even though he is a superb director and respects the material, back then THEY JUST DID NOT KNOW THAT!

The reason Whedon left Wonder Woman isn't because of Alien Resurrection or lack of credibility or any of that. The truth is, he spent 2 years on the character and couldn't figure it out. He wanted to use an original villain because he didn't want to use the Greek mythology villains and didn't think her rogues gallery was strong enough. I disagree. I think Ares could be a great villain.

But in the end, Whedon never really got to grips with Wonder Woman. By the time Joel Silver bought a WWII Wonder Woman spec script, the game was up.

I still dont get how some studios are still hesitant to have their CNM characters in their respective comic costumes...Marvel Studios proves u can do it and still make it look awesome on screen...U Listening to me FOX and X-Men? :D

Good judgement is the greatest asset a writer or director will have other than sheer talent. And when I read the bit from Whedon about Star Wars winning out over Empire I see the mark of great judgement. Empire was better than Star Wars in many ways as he said, but it was a mere continuation of the greatness that began in Star Wars. Empire owed everything in it to Star Wars except Yoda. While most blindly side with Empire Whedon has better judgement. On the other hand we see an indication of horrible judgement from Millar because of his belief that TDKR was a great film and that the action was good. So if Millar's judgement is that bad, I must wonder what his poor judgement will bring to Fox and their Marvel Films.